Shadowdance 010: Vampires and Otherkin and Therians, Oh My!
Shows October 23rd, 2006
You’ve been asking for it, and here it is. Chris interviews Michelle about the Vampire history, culture, and her own Awakening, then we veer off into the realms of the Otherkin, Therians, and…more? More, indeed.
October 25th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
that show was great I will tell others about it on the internet
vampires are ok in my book
October 27th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
I am REALLY enjoying these podcasts!
AND spreading the word!
Thank you !!!!!!!!
October 29th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
Wow…. thank you. Good ‘cast, guys.
October 30th, 2006 at 7:51 am
Another quality show. Normally long podcasts make me bored after a while, but I can really get absorbed in this one. I wanted to hear more!
December 3rd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
that sounds great i can relate to the pychic vampire I think that the talk was great
December 30th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Fascinating stuff… In relation to the “four groups” Ms Belanger mentions, there was a book called “Earth Angels” written by Doreen Virtue (PhD) several years ago. In it, she discusses various metaphysical groups that she had encountered and classified herself within her own paradigm; incarnated elementals, incarnated angels, aliens or “starpeople”, wise ones and “walk-ins” (the last group being a specific phenomena where a person has an NDE and changes completely, from personality through to memories - in effect, a different soul). Prof. Virtue suggests that these groups are present to help the earth heal on a spiritual level because they had already managed it in their own spiritual “homeworlds”. Any mention of vampires or therians was notably absent, and I suspect that Virtue would have found them a little too dark for her theory to hold.
Thank you for taking the time to record these, it is appreciated and eagerly anticipated.
February 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I loved it! Best pod cast so far in my opinion. Although I would have loved you both to have delved a little deeper into the SangVamp’s lifestyles and struggles, (I myself am a SangVamp, and sadly donorless). But I understand you are limited with the timeframe somewhat. Still, fabulous discussion, keep it up!
February 6th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Wonderful. Simply wonderful.
I’m always afraid to make myself known like this, because everytime I say these things, I think everyone around me is looking at me like I’m full of fluff. XD
I admire your bravery.
This is the first podcast I’ve heard from you guys, I’m looking at the others after this. ^_^
February 9th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
The part on vampires wasn’t bad, but I’m not exactly familiar with the vampire community… so, I could be missing things that are completely incorrect.
That said, the part on therians annoyed me. Yeah, some therians believe that there is a totemic interaction there — but most do not, and the concept is not the same as totems, so why define it in terms of totems? And going right from therianthropy to the idea of physical shifting? That just doesn’t really have anything to *do* with therianthropy. Very few therians believe at all in p-shifting, and to most it is totally irrelevant to their natures. Just… talk about therians if you’re going to talk about therians. I didn’t hear a single thing.
Eyes changing color? That’s a normal *human* phenomena. “Therians are feral”? Who knows. I don’t think that’s consistently true. I don’t see evidence that there is any consistent physical therian phenomena except for them having normal human bodies.
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Great interview, it helped to answer a few questions that I had floating around my mind.
Beautifull song at the end too, gave me goosebumps.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am
I liked this Podcast; it helped me understand that vampiric subculture a bit better, and helped me contrast your views with those of what I have already encountered in it. The concepts introduced made me think and examine myself in terms of how I have had interactions with vampires in the past.
That said, I really think that this podcast should have been about vampires, since that is not only the area you know the best, but it is the one with which you probably (though I am not discounting your experiences in the least) have the most experience. Had you had a therian (I’m not sure what Chris identifies as, I think you mentioned in one Podcast that you were not sure) or perhaps another person who identified as Otherkin, it would have helped the Podcast along in terms of having a primary reporter, rather than two secondary reporters who, while they do their research, I would imagine do not have the experience of Awakening as a therian.
Just some thoughts.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I know this particular episode is nearly a year and a half old, but it interested me, so I’m commenting anyway. *grin*
Glamour (beyond glamourbombing) might need a regulation as well, I think. I’ve seen fae-kin (who aren’t fully aware of what they’re doing, though at least one of them knows she’s fae), especially at the renfaire, fling glamour about willy-nilly, to the point where I’ve said more than once that “I like fae-kin. They’re fun and shiny and fascinating to watch. But I don’t trust them”. It wasn’t until the House Kheperu Open House in 2007 that I met fae who were conscious of and responsible about their glamour. It stunned me; they “pinged” as fae to me, but I figured they couldn’t be because they didn’t fling glamour about everywhere, and it wasn’t until it came up in conversation that I discovered they were responsible about their glamour and consciously controlling it.
When I say glamour in this context, I mean more than “throwing around glitter”. I’m talking about glamour in the sense of fascination, charisma, illusion, and social/emotional manipulation. Fae are supreme social manipulators, enchanters of the heart and mind and, well, libido. It’s morbidly fascinating at faire to watch two of the fae I know just ensnare person after person in a complicated and somehow effortless web of infatuation, lust, crushes, hopeless love, and rivalry. And I don’t even think they realize they’re doing it! It’s almost like vampires and feeding - first it requires an awareness of what one is doing, and then it requires learning to control it and be responsible about it.
I honestly think it’s a feeding mechanism. Most of the fae-kin I know (and the fae in myth, for that matter) have a vampiric element to them. I think the aura of charisma-glamour that draws people to them like moths is a way to bring their food to them. I’ve seen several vampires do something similar, only with a less glittery/bright/fieryshiny cast to it - a darker magnetism instead of the shining charm of fae.
Regarding therians… Nope, not animal totems, necessarily! In fact, the totemic view is one of the least popular in the therian community (though it *does* exist). I know this podcast is a bit out of date, so maybe your familiarity has grown since then, but your definition of therians does leave a little to be desired (although your energetic and behavioristic observations are well-aligned with my personal experiences; the understanding of community norms and beliefs just seems a bit off, is all).
On the whole “treant” thing - There are some people in the otherkin community, though rare, who call themselves “plantkin”. Otherkin whose kinself is a plant. There are also a few otherkin who classify themselves in the “fae” umbrella who identify as elementals - forces of nature rather than specific mythic entities, earth-beings and fire-beings and water-beings. Might these be worth looking into?